Batting practice attachment for baseball bats

ABSTRACT

An attachment for bats designed principally for use in batting practice, comprising a thin wall tube of rubber-like material of length approximating the length of the contact zone of the bat. In one embodiment, the tube is closed at one end with the closed end covering the end of the bat. An edge rim of greater thickness is present in one embodiment to protect the end from tearing and in other embodiments, raised patterns are present on the external surface of the tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] In the field of baseball, the time spent in batting practiceusually is far greater than that actually spent during a game. Thenecessity of batting practice is recognized by batting coaches fromlittle league through amateur, recreational, varsity college and allstages of professional play. The need for batting practice has grown tothe extent that a number of batting cages have developed includingpitching machines as well as live pitchers to provide the batter with aseries of pitches, as many as 600 per hour, to sharpen the batter'sskills. Batting practice can take a tremendous toll on the bats used.Not only is there danger of wooden bats breaking, but they develop whatis known as chipping and scuffing, as well as cracking. Metal batsproduce loud sounds in a batting cage with a number of batterssimultaneously practicing. Metal bats, in addition to the sound oftensuffer dents that make the bat unattractive, undesirable and oftenuseless.

[0002] The batting coach often relies on the sound of the bats strikingthe ball as an indication of quality of the hit. The reliance on soundcan be misleading, however, since often batters will try to cut theball, that is, a downward swing to get back spin and loft. This addsparticularly to the tendency to chip wooden bats and raising the grainto the extent that you can actually peel splinters off the bat.

[0003] I am a professional ball player and have instructed in battingemploying batting cages for a number of years and have recognized theabove problems. It occurred to me that it would be desirable to minimizethe likelihood of chipping, splitting, cracking or denting of bats if itwould be possible to have some kind of a protective cover that did notinterfere with the batting training.

[0004] I explored the prior art and found that most of the additions tothe contact zone or head region of the bat are in the form of temporaryadded weights of one form or another. These are often called “donuts”because of their shape and used primarily for swinging the bat inpreparation for the time at the plate. They are substitute for the timehonored practice of swinging two bats in preparation for one's time atbat. No attempt is made to actually strike the ball with a weight or“do-nut” in place.

[0005] Also attempts have been made to put attachments on bats to addweight distributed over the head region of the bat or its face. Examplesof such devices are shown in: 3,623,724 L.A. Landy November 30, 19713,833,217 D.F. Greaney September 3, 1974 3,944,225 D.F. Greaney March16, 1976 5,024,436 S.J. Vento June 18, 1991.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Faced with the foregoing state of the art, it appeared to me thatit should be possible to put a protective cover on a baseball bat usedin practice in a manner that would not significantly change its weight,feel, or shape but protect the bat from developing the foregoingdescribed problems. I found that I could use a thin natural rubber tubeof {fraction (1/32)}″ to ⅛″ wall thickness when unstretched and thelength in the order of 9 inches and a diameter of approximately ⅔ thediameter of the baseball bat head. I found that I could roll such asleeve onto a bat beginning at its head and it was hardly noticeablesince it changed the diameter of the bat and its weight insignificantly.

[0007] When used in practice, not only did the sleeve reduce thetendency of the batting surface to become worn, chipped, splinter, orsplit, but it reduced the sound of impact and reduced the vibrationtransmitted to the hands of the batter. This allowed him more practicewith less tiring of the hands. Likewise, the batting coach can easilydetect the sound of any hit outside of the intended contact zone sinceit will carry with it the classic metal or wood impact sound. A coachcould therefore be observing one or more players while batting andaudibly detect any major batting errors by other practicing batters. Ihave found that players do not object to the protective sleeve asaffecting their batting and as I indicated above, actually favor theless shock to be transmitted to their hands allowing greater practicewithout tiring.

[0008] I found that a simple tube of uniform diameter is effective andowing to the bat contact zone shape, there is no tendency of the sleeveto slide off the bat in use. I have also learned, in the case of metalbats, with a plastic end, that it is desirable that the outer end of thesleeve cover the joint between the metal bat and the end plug. When soinstalled, the sleeve acts as a safety feature, as well, since end plugscommonly become loosened and fly out of the end of the bat. A slightoverlapping of the sleeve over the end plug reduced the likelihood ofpresents that occurrence.

[0009] I have also found that it is possible to mold a rubber sleeve tocover the entire end cap with a somewhat smaller diameter toward thehandle. Such an embodiment definitely prevents the end cap of the metalcap from departing the bat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0010] This invention may be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description and by reference to the drawing in which:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a prospective view of a batter employing this invention;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of a bat with this invention inplace;

[0013]FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of thisinvention applied to a hollow metal bat;

[0014]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the tubular bat protector of thisinvention in its unstretched condition before placement on a bat;

[0015]FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a bat with an alternateembodiment of this invention;

[0016]FIG. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the bat ofFIG. 5; and

[0017]FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are fragmentary side elevational views ofalternate embodiments of this invention including surface embossments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Now referring to FIGS. 1-4, this invention may be seen in use bya batter B with a bat 10 of his own selection and modified only in thepresence of a sleeve or cover 11 extending over the contact zone of thebat. A batting machine 12 is positioned to deliver a series of baseballs13. It is apparent in FIG. 1 and more particularly in FIG. 2 that thebat 10 is virtually unchanged in size and shape to the presence of thesleeve 11. Likewise, the weight of the bat is virtually unchanged. Atypical bat used by professional players will range in weight from 29 to36 ounces and the sleeve 11, which is preferably fabricated from a nineinch long tube of natural rubber of approximately one sixteenth inchwall thickness has a weight in the order of 2 to 3 ounces. Therefore,the sleeve 11 adds only 5-10% to the weight of the bat. This isconsidered insignificant.

[0019] The natural resiliency of the sleeve 11 draws it tightly againstthe bat throughout the contact zone, which typically is in the order of8-10 inches long. The bat 10 can be either a wooden or a hollow metalbat. As illustrated in FIG. 2, it can be either material. FIG. 3 showsthe typical construction of the contact zone end of a metal bat 10M asbeing of aluminum or aluminum alloy with an internal hollow cavity 12and an end plug 13 that is typically of plastic and secured by frictionand/or adhesive at its end joint 14. Overlying the contact zone is thesleeve 11 of this invention. The natural resiliency of the stretchedsleeve draws it tight against the cylindrical or tapered outer surfaceof the bat 10M. Note that in the preferred arrangement, the sleeve 11extends beyond the joint 14 and partly covers the end plug. This isimportant in that the sleeve 11 provides further assurance that the endplug does not separate from the bat.

[0020] The sleeve 11 is shown in FIG. 4 as a uniform diameter rubbertube of length between 8 and 10 inches and a wall thickness in itsunstretched condition of 0.0625 inch. The unrestrained inside diameteris in the order of 2 inches so that when stretched over a bat of 2¾ inchmaximum legal diameter, the sleeve 11 is tightly secured to the bat andreduces its wall thickness by approximately 50%. This insures a tightfit and prevents any relative movement of the sleeve during practice tothe batter there is virtually no effect upon the direction or distanceof a hit ball in the presence of the sleeve 11. The sound or crack ofthe bat is definitely subdued thereby reducing the noise level in abatting cage where a number of batters are practicing at the same time.

[0021] The embodiment of FIGS. 2-4 is preferred principally because thefact that it is totally effective, and a minimum cost, in as much as ituses only a length of tubing without any fabrication costs exceptcutting its to length. It may be rolled on from the end of the bat andtherefore easily installed.

[0022] I have also found that someone more sophisticated, although moreexpensive version of this invention, is possible where the sleeve ismolded in the form of a closed cup and molded in a variety of sizesrelated to the bat head diameter. Such an embodiment is shown in FIGS.5-9. In that case, a closed cup cover 20 is shown on bat 10 in which theentire contact zone end of the bat is covered. This version has theprincipal advantage of positively insuring that the end cap 13 does notleave the bat in any normal usage.

[0023] The design of the FIGS. 5-9 has the additional advantage that itis possible to mold an annular ring 21 at the open end of the cup 20 atan additional strength and reducing the possibility of any tearing ofthe end as can occur if a ball repeatedly strikes the edge. to Themolded version also gives the advantage of being able to add externalembossments to the surface to enhance the frictional contact between theball and the bat, if desired. In FIG. 7, the pattern, made up of anumber of intersecting lines 21 forms a diamond pattern with rakedridges in the order of 1{fraction (1/16)} inch. In the embodiment ofFIG. 8, a number of circular embossments 22 are shown. This variationdoes slightly affect the contact with the ball but is only believed toimprove the batter's performance. FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the addedflexibility of the sleeve when molded.

[0024] The above described embodiments of the present invention aremerely descriptive of its principals and are not to be consideredlimiting. The scope of the present invention, instead, shall bedetermined from the scope of the following claims including theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An attachment for the contact zone of baseballbats comprising an elongated tube of resilient rubber-like material havea normal diameter less than the outside diameter of the contact zone ofthe baseball bat and a wall thickness in the order of ⅛ inch or less. 2.The combination in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the length of saidtube is in the order of 8-10 inches.
 3. The combination in accordancewith claim 1 , wherein said tube is of natural rubber.
 4. Thecombination in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said tube is closed atone end to cover the end of the bat.
 5. The combination in accordancewith claim 1 , wherein said tube includes a pair of open ends, at leastone of which has an end bead of thicker material than the wall thicknessof the tube.
 6. A batting attachment in accordance with claim 5 ,wherein said tube is closed at one end and said bead is at the oppositeend.
 7. The batting attachment in accordance with claim 1 , wherein theouter surface of said tube has a plurality of embossments thereon ofheight approximating the wall thickness of the tube.
 8. An attachmentfor the contact zone and head region of baseball bats, comprising a tubeof rubber-like material having one open end and one closed end; saidtube having a normal inside diameter less than the outside diameter ofthe contact zone and head region of a bat and being of sufficientflexibility and thin wall to allow it to be stretched over the head of abat and substantially cover the contact zone.
 9. The combination inaccordance with claim 8 , wherein the length of said tube is in theorder of 8-10 inches.
 10. The combination in accordance with claim 8 ,wherein said tube is of natural rubber.
 11. The combination inaccordance with claim 8 , wherein said tube has a bead at the open end.12. The combination in accordance with claim 8 , wherein the outersurface of said tube includes embossments thereon in the region coveringthe contact zone of the bat.